scholarly journals Counting on Numbers—Numerical Abilities in Grey Bamboo Sharks and Ocellate River Stingrays

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2634
Author(s):  
Nils Kreuter ◽  
Nele Christofzik ◽  
Carolin Niederbremer ◽  
Janik Bollé ◽  
Vera Schluessel
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Continuous Variables ◽  
Quantity Discrimination ◽  
Numerical Information ◽  
Invertebrate Species ◽  
Elasmobranch Species ◽  
Bamboo Shark ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Low Rate ◽  
Chiloscyllium Griseum

Over the last decade, studies examining the cognitive abilities of fish have increased, using a broad range of approaches. One of the foci has been to test the ability of fish to discriminate quantities of items and to determine whether fish can solve tasks solely on the basis of numerical information. This study is the first to investigate this ability in two elasmobranch species. All animals were trained in two-alternative forced-choice visual experiments and then examined in transfer tests, to determine if previously gained knowledge could be applied to new tasks. Results show that the grey bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium griseum) and the ocellate river stingray (Potamotrygon motoro) can discriminate quantities based on numerical information alone, while continuous variables were controlled for. Furthermore, the data indicates that similar magnitudes and limits for quantity discrimination exist as in other animals. However, the high degree of intraspecific variation that was observed as well as the low rate of animals proving to be successful suggest that the ability to discriminate quantities may not be as important to these species as to some other vertebrate and invertebrate species tested so far.

III. Bacterial Contamination of the Umbilicus

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1960 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 921-922
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Contamination ◽  
Once Daily ◽  
Hemolytic Streptococcus ◽  
Puerperal Sepsis ◽  
Treat All ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Low Rate

In December 1957, two cases of omphalitis occurred in one of the nurseries. Hemolytic streptococcus and S. aureus were isolated from the umbilicus in each case. These findings prompted us to take umbilical swabs from all the babies in the two nurseries on the same ward. Table XIX shows that on this occasion 83% of the 23 cords sampled were contaminated with Hemolytic streptococcus and 78% with S. aureus. When it was noted that such a high percentage of cords were contaminated with pyogenic streptococci and staphylococci, it was decided to treat all babies by painting the cords once daily with aqueous benzalkonium, Zephiran®, (1:1000). After this procedure had been in use for 5 weeks, surveys showed that 67% of 57 infants' cords still carried Hemolytic streptococcus and 68% carried S. aureus (Table XIX). As the Zephiran® treatment had not reduced the number of either streptococci or staphylococci appreciably, triple-dye was applied daily to the cord stumps (Jellard, J.:Brit. M. J., 1:925, 1957). With this method, although streptococci and staphylococci were not immediately eliminated, the results after 6 weeks showed a low rate of contamination (Table XIX). Although not shown in the Table, on the occasion of our last survey, when 31 cords were sampled, no streptococci were recovered. The presence of such a high degree of streptococcal cord contamination was disturbing. An explanation for this was sought by attempting to locate streptococcal throat-carries amongst the nursery personnel. However, pyogenic streptococci were not recovered from their throats. No case of streptococcal puerperal sepsis had been reported from the maternity wards of the hospital for more than a year.

Diet of common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) in the Pacific coast of Ecuador

2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Luis Varela ◽  
Cristhian Ronald Lucas-Pilozo ◽  
Manuel María González-Duarte
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Dosidicus Gigas ◽  
Invertebrate Species ◽  
Coryphaena Hippurus ◽  
Important Prey ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Common ◽  
Hippocampus Hippocampus ◽  
High Degree

The diet and the feeding habits of the common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) in the Pacific coast of Ecuador was assessed by examining 320 stomachs of individuals ranging from 51 to 149 cm in total length. Fish was the predominant prey group in the diet (Alimentary Index, %AI = 95.39) followed by cephalopods (%AI = 4.13) and crustaceans (%AI = 0.48). Among the 17 prey items that make up the dolphinfish diet, the Exocoetidae family was the most important prey (%AI = 57.13), Dosidicus gigas being the most abundant invertebrate species (%AI = 7.65). Feeding patterns were evaluated using the graphing method of Amundsen, which suggested that this species shows a varying degree of specialization on different prey taxa. Thus, while some species were unimportant and rare (Hippocampus hippocampus, Lagocephalus lagocephalus, Gobiidae and Argonauta sp.), several dolphinfishes showed a high degree of specialization on Scombridae, Pleuroncodes planipes, Portunus xantusii and Opisthonema libertate. Size-related and temporal shifts in dietary composition were investigated by PERMANOVA analysis, which showed wide variations among size classes and periods of capture. The results of this study indicate that the common dolphinfish is an opportunistic feeder, which is capable of consuming a wide variety of schooling epipelagic organisms.

scholarly journals B-15 Engagement in Cognitively-Demanding Activities in Daily Life is Associated with Neurocognitive Test Performance and Perceived Cognitive Difficulties Among Adults With and Without HIV

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 959-960
Author(s):  
E Paolillo ◽  
M Hussain ◽  
R Moore ◽  
D Moore ◽  
R Heaton
Keyword(s):  
Test Performance ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Neurocognitive Impairment ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Continuous Variables ◽  
Everyday Functioning ◽  
Total Frequency ◽  
Cognitive Difficulties ◽  
Neurocognitive Test

Abstract Objective Assessing daily activities is important for understanding how cognitive abilities affect everyday functioning. We evaluated a new measure capturing engagement in cognitively-demanding activities among people with and without HIV, and examined associations with neurocognitive test performance and perceived cognitive difficulties. Method Participants included 79 adults (59 HIV+, 20 HIV-) enrolled in studies at UCSD (mean age = 55.1; SD = 13.1). Domain-specific composite scaled scores measured neurocognitive functioning as continuous variables. Demographically-corrected global deficit scores determined neurocognitive impairment. Perceived cognitive difficulties were self-reported via the Everyday Cognition scale (ECog). The newly created, self-report Frequency and Difficulty of Activities Scale (FDAS) measured frequency of engagement in 27 cognitively-demanding activities [0 = Never to 10 = Once a day or more] in the last month. FDAS “total frequency score” sums all frequency ratings. Participants also rated difficulty performing each FDAS activity [0 = Not at all to 10 = Extremely]. FDAS “difficult-activity score” sums frequency ratings only for activities that participants identified as difficult for them (i.e., difficulty rating >75th percentile of sample). Results Higher FDAS total frequency scores correlated with better verbal fluency (r = 0.26, p = 0.019) and processing speed (r = 0.24, p = 0.030). Multiple regression revealed a significant interaction between cognitive impairment and frequency of engagement in difficult activities (b = 0.34, 95%CI = 0.18-0.50, p < 0.001), such that higher FDAS difficult-activity scores related to more perceived cognitive difficulties only among cognitively impaired participants. Conclusion This study explored use of a new measure of complex daily activities to aid neuropsychological interpretation. Results suggest that effects of neurocognitive impairment on perceived cognitive difficulties may only be apparent if individuals are attempting to perform challenging everyday tasks.

scholarly journals Common Listening Challenges: Indonesian EFL Learners’ Perception

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Lidiyatul Izzah ◽  
Khodijah Keeya
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Practical Research ◽  
Physical Setting ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
The Common ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

 Being a major part of internationalizing higher education, teaching English taps particular general cognitive abilities. It is mainly regarding listening that is hypothesized to have a higher influence on acquisition of foreign language. The aim of this study was to identify the common listening challenges experienced by Indonesian EFL learners. This research was practical research using descriptive methods of quantitative research. Subject of the study were subsequently randomly chosen, in which EFL learners at even semesters become the representative. In collecting data, the researchers used a self-structured questionnaire that refers to three primary categories: (1) the listener, (2) the passage, and (3), the physical setting. The data was then statistically evaluated by referring to Likert type scales, to discover useful information. After all, the finding showed that distortions, lexis recognition, phonological awareness, complexity of the passage and the speech rate highlighted a high degree response of common listening challenges. The significance of the study expected to contribute learners with a better understanding and propose new ideas for acceptable teaching listening.

Implementation of continuous variable quantum cryptography in optical fibres using a go-&-return configuration

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (4&5) ◽  
pp. 326-335
Author(s):  
M. Legré ◽  
H. Zbinden ◽  
N. Gisin
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Cryptography ◽  
Quantum Key Distribution ◽  
Key Distribution ◽  
Continuous Variable ◽  
Optical Fibres ◽  
Continuous Variables ◽  
Phase Fluctuations ◽  
Degree Of Stability ◽  
Set Up ◽  
High Degree

We demonstrate an implementation of quantum key distribution with continuous variables based on a go-&-return configuration over distances up to 14km. This configuration leads to self-compensation of polarisation and phase fluctuations. We observe a high degree of stability of our set-up over many hours.

scholarly journals Variable Binned Scatter Plots

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming C. Hao ◽  
Umeshwar Dayal ◽  
Ratnesh K. Sharma ◽  
Daniel A. Keim ◽  
Halldór Janetzko
Keyword(s):  
Credit Card ◽  
Continuous Variables ◽  
Scatter Plot ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Visual Clustering ◽  
Level Information ◽  
Scatter Plots ◽  
Data Points ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Interesting Area

The scatter plot is a well-known method of visualizing pairs of two continuous variables. Scatter plots are intuitive and easy-to-use, but often have a high degree of overlap which may occlude a significant portion of the data. To analyze a dense non-uniform data set, a recursive drill-down is required for detailed analysis. In this article, we propose variable binned scatter plots to allow the visualization of large amounts of data without overlapping. The basic idea is to use a non-uniform (variable) binning of the x and y dimensions and to plot all data points that are located within each bin into the corresponding squares. In the visualization, each data point is then represented by a small cell (pixel). Users are able to interact with individual data points for record level information. To analyze an interesting area of the scatter plot, the variable binned scatter plots with a refined scale for the subarea can be generated recursively as needed. Furthermore, we map a third attribute to color to obtain a visual clustering. We have applied variable binned scatter plots to solve real-world problems in the areas of credit card fraud and data center energy consumption to visualize their data distributions and cause-effect relationships among multiple attributes. A comparison of our methods with two recent scatter plot variants is included.

scholarly journals Continuous versus discrete quantity discrimination in dune snail (Mollusca: Gastropoda) seeking thermal refuges

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Bisazza ◽  
Elia Gatto
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
High Survival ◽  
Numerical Information ◽  
Sparse Vegetation ◽  
Soil Temperatures ◽  
Theba Pisana ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Continuous Quantities ◽  
Harsh Habitat

AbstractThe ability of invertebrates to discriminate quantities is poorly studied, and it is unknown whether other phyla possess the same richness and sophistication of quantification mechanisms observed in vertebrates. The dune snail, Theba pisana, occupies a harsh habitat characterised by sparse vegetation and diurnal soil temperatures well above the thermal tolerance of this species. To survive, a snail must locate and climb one of the rare tall herbs each dawn and spend the daytime hours in an elevated refuge position. Based on their ecology, we predicted that dune snails would prefer larger to smaller groups of refuges. We simulated shelter choice under controlled laboratory conditions. Snails’ acuity in discriminating quantity of shelters was comparable to that of mammals and birds, reaching the 4 versus 5 item discrimination, suggesting that natural selection could drive the evolution of advanced cognitive abilities even in small-brained animals if these functions have a high survival value. In a subsequent series of experiments, we investigated whether snails used numerical information or based their decisions upon continuous quantities, such as cumulative surface, density or convex hull, which co-varies with number. Though our results tend to underplay the role of these continuous cues, behavioural data alone are insufficient to determine if dune snails were using numerical information, leaving open the question of whether gastropod molluscans possess elementary abilities for numerical processing.

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